What style trussrod are you using? I know for double action type rods, and I think all other rods you are NOT supposed to glue them into the slot. So yes it will work fine unglued, unless it is some type of rod I am not familiar with.

For the hot rod just cut the slot the proper width depth and length. It is actually recomended that you cover the truss rod with tape when applying glue to glue the finger board on. For this kind of thing glue on the trussrod is not a good thing.